Differences between NTFs and FAT32 in Windows

 

Windows supports both FAT32 and NTFS file systems. FAT32 is longer than compatibility, and NTFS is longer than system security. On the premise of meeting the application requirements, how can we set a file system to make full use of the features of windows? Before discussing this issue, let's take a look at the features of the FAT32 and NTFS file systems.

 

FAT32 File System

 

Before the introduction of the FAT32 file system, the file system usually used by the PC is fat16. Like MS-DOS, Win 95 and other systems are using the fat16 file system. In Windows 9x, fat16 supports a maximum partition size of 2 GB. We know that the computer stores the information in a zone called a "cluster" on the hard disk. The smaller the cluster used, the higher the information storage efficiency. In the case of fat16, the larger the partition, the larger the cluster, the lower the storage efficiency, and the waste of storage space. With the continuous improvement of computer hardware and applications, the fat16 file system cannot meet the requirements of the system. In this case, the enhanced File System FAT32 is introduced.

 

Compared with fat16, FAT32 has the following features:

 

1. the maximum advantage of FAT32 compared with fat16 is that it supports 2 TB (2047 GB) disks, but cannot support partitions smaller than MB. FAT32-based Win 2000 supports a maximum partition size of 32 GB, while fat16-based Win 2000 supports a maximum partition size of 4 GB.

 

2. Because smaller clusters are used, the FAT32 file system can store information more efficiently. For example, if both partitions are 2 GB in size, one partition uses the fat16 file system, and the other uses the FAT32 file system. The cluster size in fat16 is 32 KB, while that in FAT32 is only 4 kb. In this way, the storage efficiency of FAT32 is much higher than that of fat16, which can be improved by 15%.

 

3. The FAT32 file system can locate the root directory and use the fat backup copy. In addition, the startup records of the FAT32 partition are included in a structure containing key data, reducing the possibility of computer system crashes.

 

NTFS file system

NTFS file system is a secure-based file system. It is a unique file system structure used by Windows NT. It is built on the basis of protecting file and directory data, an advanced file system that saves storage resources and reduces disk usage. Windows NT 4.0, which is widely used, uses the NTFS 4.0 file system. It is believed that the powerful system security brought by it will surely impress users. Windows 2000 adopts the updated NTFS file system NTFS 5.0, which allows users to operate and manage computers conveniently and quickly like Windows 9X, you can also enjoy the system security brought about by NTFS.

 

NTFS 5.0 features mainly in the following aspects:

 

1. NTFS supports up to 2 TB of partition size (volume if Dynamic Disk is used. In Windows 2000, FAT32 supports a maximum partition size of 32 GB.

 

2. NTFS is a recoverable file system. On the NTFS partition, users seldom need to run the disk repair program. NTFS ensures partition consistency by using standard transaction processing logs and recovery technologies. When a system failure occurs, NTFS uses log files and checkpoint information to automatically restore the consistency of the file system.

 

3. NTFS supports compression of partitions, folders, and files. Any Windows-based application does not need to decompress the compressed files in the NTFS partition before reading or writing them. When the files are read, the files are automatically decompressed; files are automatically compressed when they are closed or saved.

 

4. NTFS uses smaller clusters to manage disk space more efficiently. In the case of a Windows 2000 FAT32 file system, the partition size is 2 GB ~ 8 GB, the cluster size is 4 kb; the partition size is 8 GB ~ The cluster size is 8 kb when 16 GB is used, and the partition size is between 16 GB and 16 GB ~ 32 GB, the cluster size reaches 16 kb. In Win 2000 NTFS file system, when the partition size is below 2 GB, the cluster size is smaller than the corresponding FAT32 cluster; when the partition size is above 2 GB (2 GB ~ 2 TB), the cluster size is 4 kb. In contrast, NTFS can manage disk space more effectively than FAT32, avoiding disk space waste to the maximum extent.

 

5. On the NTFS partition, you can set access permission for shared resources, folders, and files. The permission setting includes two aspects: first, which groups or users are allowed to access folders, files, and shared resources; the second is the access level that a group or user can access. The access permission setting applies not only to users on the local computer, but also to network users who access files through shared folders on the network. Compared with accessing folders or files in the FAT32 file system, the security is much higher. In addition, in Win 2000 in NTFS format, the Application Audit Policy can audit folders, files, and Active Directory objects. The audit results are recorded in the security log, through security logs, you can view the groups or users who perform operations on folders, files, or active directory objects. In this way, you can find that the system may face illegal access and take appropriate measures, minimize this security risk. These cannot be implemented in the FAT32 file system.

 

6. You can manage the disk quota in the NTFS file system of Win 2000. The disk quota is the quota that the administrator can limit for the disk space that the user can use. Each user can only use the disk space within the maximum quota range. After setting the disk quota, you can track and control the disk usage of each user. by monitoring, you can identify the users who exceed the quota alarm threshold and quota, and then take appropriate measures. The disk quota management function allows administrators to easily and reasonably allocate storage resources to users, avoiding system crashes caused by out-of-control disk space usage and improving system security.

 

7. NTFS uses a "change" log to track changes to files.

 

Tips(Recommended for FAT32 and NTFS)

 

In terms of system security, NTFS file systems have many features not available in FAT32 file systems, and the NTFS-based Win 2000 runs faster than the FAT32-based Win 2000; in terms of compatibility with win 9x, FAT32 is better than NTFS. Therefore, when deciding on the file system used in Win 2000, we should start from the following points:

 

1. Whether the computer is a single Win 2000 system or a Win 2000 system with multiple boot;

2. number and capacity of disks locally installed;

3. Check whether security considerations exist.

 

Based on the above considerations, if you want to use a partition larger than 32 GB in Win 2000, you can only select the NTFS format. If the computer is used as a single machine, you do not need to consider security issues, but pay more attention to compatibility with win 9x, then FAT32 is the best choice. If the computer is a network workstation or more pursuing system security and can run in a single Win 2000 mode, we strongly recommend that all partitions adopt the NTFS format; if you want to be compatible with previous applications, you need to install Win 9x or other operating systems. We recommend that you create multiple boot systems. This requires more than two partitions, one of which adopts the NTFS format, in addition, the partition uses the FAT32 format. To obtain the fastest running speed, we recommend that you place Windows 2000 system files in the NTFS partition, and other personal files in the FAT32 partition.

 

Is NTFS suitable for you?

 

Whether to convert FAT32 to NTFS in multiple operating systems depends on your situation. In terms of performance and security, FAT32 can be converted to NTFS. In terms of operability and compatibility, FAT32 should be maintained without conversion because more operating systems are supported. NTFS is not compatible with Windows ME and earlier Windows versions. We recommend that you use FAT32 in Windows XP/2003.

 

Convert FAT32 to NTFS

 

In Windows 2000/XP, you can type "Convert E:/fs NTFS" at the command prompt (assuming that the E drive was originally FAT32). Press enter, the edisk is automatically converted to the NTFS file system at the next restart. During conversion, it is best to sort out disk fragments to speed up the conversion and back up data to other non-conversion partitions.

Convert NTFS to FAT32

 

Converting NTFS to FAT32 is relatively complicated. You can use the installation disc of Windows 2000/XP to complete the conversion without using old files. During installation, select format disk partition with the fat file system ". If you need to save the original file, you can use partition magic for DOS for conversion. However, this conversion speed is slow and data is easy to lose. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you back up data before conversion.

 

Many Conversion Problems

 

If the current disk partition already uses the NTFS file system and stores a lot of data, including encrypted files or folders, then converting to FAT32 will cause the problem of inaccessible encrypted files, in addition, because the two file systems use different file naming methods, the file name may be faulty after conversion.

 

Shouldn't I use the NTFS file system?

 

Windows NT is now widely used when windwos 9x is popularized. Because Windows NT is mostly used on commercial platforms, Windows 9x is usually installed on home computers. When Windows 2000 was launched, because of its huge volume and many application programs, there are some totally different operation methods from Windows 9x, so ordinary users have never been in touch with Windows 2000, of course, they have never used NTFS file systems. Of course, the NT 3.x and NT 4.x systems have come out very early, but few people are interested in it, because it is not suitable for home use, and I will not talk about it here. The launch of XP is refreshing. More and more people have installed XP, but it also raises a problem they must face. That is, the title of this post, "shouldn't I choose NTFS file system?".

 

On a computer running Windows 2000/XP, NTFS is a recommended file system, and NTFS is the file system that can easily process large-capacity hard disks, the NTFS file system provides various new features of directories and other important security features. Using the NTFS file system to format partitions requires less fragments and higher performance.

One thing to note is that the earlier Windows 9.x system could not directly access the NTFS partition. I have heard of patches, but they are not omnipotent. Therefore, if you do not want to give up windows. X, this article may be of no use to you.

 

Advantages of NTFS partitioning

 

Since windows, Microsoft has recommended the NTFS disk format. Later, XP has to work with this disk format to maximize its performance advantages. It is not just because of Microsoft's promotion. Because of its own technical advantages, NTFS's disk format is gradually accepted by users in combination with the current trend of hardware and network development.

 

1. Impact of large hard disks.

 

The current hard disk capacity is growing in multiples, doubling or even increasing every six months, but the price is decreasing. In this way, the partitioning method based on the traditional FAT file system will gradually reflect its inherent shortcomings-Let's first look at FAT32, FAT32 is the enhanced version of the FAT file system, it can be used on a drive with a capacity of MB to 2 TB. Even so, in FAT32 format, if the partition space is too large, because the disk cluster is relatively large, when multiple small files are stored, the space usage will be greatly wasted.

 

Relatively speaking, the NTFS disk format cluster is very small, it can effectively use the disk space, and it is not easy to produce fragments. In addition, the NTFS disk format is more advantageous than the fat System in video capturing and editing when processing a large file. With the development of a large number of hard disks, the use of NTFS partition formats will become increasingly necessary-you do not want to partition the number of partitions into a drive letter with 24 letters to accommodate the partition capacity? Therefore, Microsoft recommends using NTFS instead of the FAT32 File System to format partitions larger than 32 GB.

 

2. Impact of the next-generation Windows Operating System

 

Over time, Microsoft is likely to abandon the DOS-compatible installation and maintenance of the operating system for the next generation of windows, that is to say, after the CD is started, the new direct graphical interface is used to install the next generation of windows. This avoids the negative impact of the DOS mode memory configuration environment on Windows installation, it also invalidates many programs that crack their activation settings (the memory configuration in the DOS environment is complicated for new users. Many people fail to install XP, except for hard-ware compatibility issues. This is the reason ); at the same time, for end users, the new installation mode can better analyze the user's Hardware System during installation, providing more friendly prompts and better troubleshooting functions. If you use a graphical interface to directly manage the installation task, windows may require you to format the partition of a new generation of massive hard disks larger than 32 GB with NTFS to continue the installation. You may also forcibly promote the NTFS disk format by removing the support for the fat system from the new operating system.

 

3. User security and management problems caused by networking and multi-PC connections

 

The online work and entertainment of computers will become irreversible in the future. As the Internet becomes more popular around the world, the security and management of online computers are becoming increasingly prominent, there is already more than one computer. Only by using NTFS can the security performance and manageability of windows be guaranteed. NTFS allows you to configure and manage computer resources more flexibly, whether you access the Internet or set up a LAN at home. NTFS's disk quota, user permissions, personal file encryption, and other features, and network application advantages have been described in a lot of information, which will not be repeated here.

 

In addition, NTFS supports POSIX standards based on UNIX services, and is highly portable. This ensures its compatibility with other network platforms.

 

Of course, the premise is that Windows is a dominant operating system. Judging from the current situation, it is still not a problem for Microsoft to maintain its leading position in the software industry. A massive volume of hard disks exceeding GB may appear at the end of next year or later. This is one of the most powerful driving forces to make the NTFS disk format a mainstream partition format.

 

From the above points, we can see that for home PC, the biggest advantage of using NTFS is that NTFS has better support and utilization for large hard disks, the third point is mainly for commercial users. Here I also want to say something to those entry-level users, if you are using NTFS and are not familiar with NTFS's disk quota, user permissions, and personal file encryption functions, do not set directory permissions at will. Otherwise, unexpected consequences may occur.

 

Four advantages of Count NTFS

1. File Systems with error warnings

 

In the NTFS partition, the first 16 sectors are the Partition Boot sectors, where the Partition Boot Code is stored, followed by the master file table (MFT ), however, if the disk sector where it is located is damaged, the NTFS file system intelligently switches the MFT to other sectors of the hard disk to ensure that the file system is normally used, this ensures the normal operation of windows. In the past, fat16 and FAT32 fat (File Allocation Table) can only be fixed behind the Partition Boot Sector. If sector loss occurs, the entire file system will be paralyzed.

 

However, this smart mobile MFT approach is of course not perfect. If an error occurs in the part pointing to MFT in the partition guide code, the NTFS file system will not know where to find MFT, in this case, an error message such as "the disk is not formatted" is reported. To avoid this problem, the partition guide code contains a verification program, which is responsible for error detection.

2. File Reading speed is more efficient!

 

I'm afraid many people have heard that the NTFS file system has many new functions in terms of security, but do you know that NTFS is significantly faster than FAT32 in terms of file processing speed?

Readers who know a little about DOS must be familiar with various attributes of Files: Read-only, hidden, and system. In the NTFS file system, these attributes still exist, but they are quite different. Everything is an attribute, and even the file content is an attribute. The list of these attributes is not fixed and can be added at any time, that is why you will see more attributes in the NTFS partition.

 

The file attributes in the NTFS file system can be divided into two types: Resident attributes and resident attributes, which are directly stored in MFT, file names and related time information (such as the Creation Time and modification time) always belong to the resident attribute, while the resident attribute is stored outside the MFT, however, a complex index method is used for indication. If a file or folder is smaller than 1500 bytes (in fact, there are quite a few files or folders of this size in our computer), all their attributes, including the content, will be resident in MFT, MFT is loaded into the memory when Windows is started, so that when you view these files or folders, their contents are already in the cache, naturally, the access speed of files and folders is greatly improved.

 

 

TIPS: Why is fat less efficient than NTFS?

 

The file allocation table of the FAT file system can only list the names of each file and the starting cluster. It does not indicate whether the file exists. You need to record the folder where the file is located to determine whether the file exists, the folder entry is included in the index of the file allocation table. Therefore, when accessing a file, you must first read the file allocation table to confirm that the file already exists, then read the file allocation table again to find the first cluster of the file, and then find all the storage clusters of the file through the chain search, you can only access the service after final confirmation.

 

3. Disk Self-repair function

 

NTFS uses a self-healing system to automatically detect and fix logical and physical errors on the hard disk. In the fat16 and FAT32 times, we need to use the Scandisk program to mark bad sectors on the disk. However, when an error is found, the data is often written in Bad Sectors, the loss has been caused.

The NTFS file system does not. During each read/write, it checks whether the sector is correct or not. NTFS reports this error when an error is detected during reading. When an error is found when a file is written to a disk, NTFS intelligently stores data in an intact location without any impact. In both cases, NTFS will mark the bad sector to prevent future use. This mode enables disk errors to be detected earlier to avoid catastrophic accidents.

 

Some people find that, after converting a disk to an NTFS file system, it is difficult to find a disk error using a disk scan program. After the previous introduction, do you know why?

 

4. "disaster prevention and relief" Event Log Function

 

In the NTFS file system, any operation can be considered as an "Event ". For example, copying a file from drive C to drive D is an event. The Event Log constantly monitors the entire operation. When it finds the complete file on the target disk-D, it records the next "completed" mark. If a power failure occurs during the replication process, the event log does not record "completed". NTFS can re-complete the event after a call. The purpose of event logs is not to recover losses, but to supervise all events, so that the system can always know which tasks have been completed and those tasks have not been completed, ensure that the system will not be disordered due to power outages and other emergencies, minimizing the damage.

 

5. What additional functions do I need?

 

In fact, NTFS also provides disk compression, data encryption, and disk quota (right-click the partition in "My Computer" and parallel "attribute" to go to the "quota" tab to set it) dynamic Disk management and other functions. These functions are described in many newspapers, magazines, and so on.

 

NTFS provides different access control, privacy, and security management functions for different users. If your system is in a single-host environment, such as a home computer, these functions do not make much sense to you.

 

TIPS: NTFS converted from fat has a discount on Performance

 

If the partition is converted from FAT32 to NTFS file system (the command is "Convert drive letter/Fs: NTFS"), not only will MFT be prone to disk fragments, but worse, disk fragment tools often cannot sort MFT in each partition, seriously affecting system performance. Therefore, we recommend that you directly format the partition as an NTFS file system.

 

7 questions and answers in NTFS format

 

1. What is NTFS?

To learn about NTFS, we should first understand fat. "File Allocation Table" means "File Allocation Table. For us, its significance lies in the management of hard disk partitions. Fat16, FAT32, and NTFS are currently the most common file systems.

Fat16: the previously used DOS and Windows 95 all use fat16 file systems. Currently, common Windows 98/2000/XP and other systems support fat16 file systems. It can manage up to 2 GB of partitions, but each partition can have up to 65525 clusters (the cluster is the disk space configuration unit ). As the disk or partition capacity increases, the space occupied by each cluster will become larger and larger, leading to a waste of hard disk space.

FAT32: with the emergence of large-capacity hard disks, FAT32 has become popular since Windows 98. It is an enhanced version of fat16 and supports partitions up to 2 TB (2048 GB. FAT32 clusters are smaller than fat16, which effectively saves hard disk space.

NTFS: A series of operating systems supported by Microsoft Windows NT kernel, a disk format specially designed for management security features such as network and disk quotas and file encryption. With the popularity of Windows 2000/XP with NT as the kernel, many individual users began to use NTFS. NTFS also stores data files in units of clusters, but the size of the NTFS clusters does not depend on the size of disks or partitions. The reduction of the cluster size not only reduces the waste of disk space, but also reduces the possibility of generating disk fragments. NTFS supports file encryption management to provide users with high-level security assurance.

 

2. What systems can support the NTFS file system?

Only Windows NT/2000/XP can recognize NTFS systems. Windows 9x/Me, DOS, and other operating systems cannot support or recognize NTFS-format disks. Because the DOS system does not support the NTFS system, it is best not to make the C: disk as the NTFS system, so that it is easy to fix it in the DOS system after the system crashes.

File System Supported Operating Systems

Fat16 Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/xp unix, Linux, DoS

FAT32 Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP

NTFS Windows NT/2000/XP

 

3. Do I need NTFS?

Windows 2000/XP is backward compatible with the file system. It supports fat16/FAT32 and NTFS, and NTFS is a dedicated format for Windows NT/2000/XP, it makes full and effective use of disk space, supports file-level compression, and provides better file security. If you only install Windows 2000/XP, we recommend that you select the NTFS file system. If multiple boot systems are used, the system disk (disk C) must be fat16 or FAT32. Otherwise, multiple boot is not supported. Of course, the file system of other partitions can be NTFS.

 

4. How do I convert a FAT partition to NTFS?

For Windows 2000/XP, the partition format conversion tool "“convert.exe" is provided ". Convert.exe is a DOS command line program attached to Windows 2000. It can be used to convert fat to NTFS without damaging the FAT file system. It is easy to use. First, switch to the doscommand line window in Windows 2000, and type: D:> drive letter/fs to be converted by convert at the prompt: if the system edisk is originally fat16/32 and needs to be converted to NTFS, the following format can be used: D:> convert E:/Fs: all NTFS conversions are completed after the system restarts.

In addition, you can also use specialized conversion tools, such as the famous lossless partition tool partition magic, to convert the disk file format easily. Select the partition to be converted from the disk partition list on the page. Select the "Convert partition" button from the interface button bar, or select the "convert" command from the "operations" drop-down menu of the interface menu bar. Activate this function. Select "NTFS" as the conversion output on the interface, and click "OK" to return to the main interface of the program. Click "Apply" in the lower-right corner of the page to add settings. After that, the system restarts and completes the partition format conversion.

 

5. Although NTFS format partitions are superior, how can I retrieve accidentally lost files in this partition?

You can use specialized software such as final data for NTFs or get data back for NTFS. The file recovery effects of these two software are good. If no file operation is performed after the file is deleted, the recovery rate is close to 100%. Therefore, do not wait until the file is deleted to install the software. It is best to install the software together with the Windows system and immediately restore the deleted file after it is deleted by mistake. Generally, the deleted file can be restored.

 

6. My windows

2000/XP is installed on the C drive (NTFs format). If the C drive cannot be accessed in the DOS state, what should I do when Windows crashes? You can use the Windows 2000/XP installation disc to start to repair windows, or create a Windows 2000/XP installation and startup emergency drive. Note: The installation program for Windows 2000 is on the installation disc of the program, while the emergency drive for Windows XP is provided independently and needs to be downloaded from Microsoft's website.

 

7. Can final data for NTFs or get data back forntfs be used to fix accidentally formatted hard disks?

Yes. Both software can restore the formatted and deleted data (except for low-level formatting ). Regular formatting only deletes data information, while low-level formatting deletes all data areas. When hard disk technology is not as advanced as it is now, the disk surface is easily worn out. Hard Disk users often use low-level formatting for frequent read errors. To fix a formatted hard disk, you can only remove it, install it on another computer, and then perform file repair. Final data can even repair hard disks damaged by CIH viruses.